Keep Christ at the center of our worship, our walk and our lives.
(Colossians 2:16-23) Therefore don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a sabbath day. These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated without cause by his fleshly mind. He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God. If you died with Christ to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value against fleshly indulgence.
1. The Heart of Our Worship
A. Christ alone is the substance of our worship.
(17) These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah.
B. Christ alone is the passion of our worship.
(2:23) Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men – … you serve the Lord Christ.
2. The Head of Our Church
A. Keep Christ as the head of our lives.
(Matthew 6:33) Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
B. Keep Christ as the head of our church.
(1:18) He is also the head of the body, the church.
(2:19) Hold on to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.
(Ephesians 4:15) Let us grow in every way into Him who is the head – Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body.
3. The Hope of Our Lives
(Galatians 2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
A. When we die to self, we have hope for life in Christ.
(Colossians 2:20) If you died with Christ to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world?
B. When we don’t die to self, we lose our hope in Christ.
We should strive to be an example of what it means to be a Christ follower.
Colossians 4:12-17
It’s important to God that we have order in our lives.
Colossians 3:18-4:1
In order to understand Christianity, it helps to understand the history of circumcision.
Colossians 2:11-15
